SAWT BEIRUT INTERNATIONAL

| 9 February 2025, Sunday |

France calls UK quarantine rules discriminatory, excessive

A French minister said on Thursday that England’s decision to maintain quarantine restrictions for passengers from France but not for those from other European Union countries is discriminatory and not founded on science.

England announced on Thursday that from next week, properly vaccinated visitors from the EU and the US will be allowed to enter without having to go through quarantine, but that conditions for visitors from France will be reviewed at the end of the week.

“It’s excessive, and it’s frankly incomprehensible on health grounds … It’s not based on science and discriminatory towards the French,” French Europe Minister Clement Beaune said on LCI TV. “I hope it will be reviewed as soon as possible, it’s just common sense.”

Beaune said France was not planning tit-for-tat measures “for now”.

The British government has said it is keeping quarantine rules for travelers from France because of the presence of the Beta variant there, but French officials say the bulk of cases comes from the island of La Reunion in the Indian Ocean.

    Source:
  • Reuters